The German pharmaceutical company Bayer has reached a proposed settlement of $7.25 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits in the US related to its herbicide Roundup. The plaintiffs claim that the product caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that the risk was not warned about. Bayer does not admit liability and the plan, pending judicial approval, creates a fund for payments over 21 years.
The Persistence of Glyphosate: Between Science and Jurisprudence ⚖️
The core of the technical conflict lies in the classification of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. While agencies like the US EPA consider it safe when used as directed, the WHO classified it in 2015 as probably carcinogenic. This regulatory and scientific discrepancy is the basis of the legal battle, where epidemiological evidence presented in trials has outweighed the company's toxicological studies.
A Herbicide that Sows Lawsuits and Reaps Multi-Million Dollar Settlements 🌱
It seems that Roundup is effective at eliminating weeds, but even more productive at generating litigation. Bayer inherited from Monsanto a well-fertilized legal garden. Its current strategy is peculiar: on one hand it pays billions, on the other it claims its product is harmless. It's like buying a $7 billion umbrella while asking the Supreme Court to declare that it's not raining.